Episode 18 - TOW All The Poker
29 March 2012
Synopsis: Rachel is applying for jobs so she can stop being a waitress. She gets an interview for one in the fashion business but doesn’t get it. The girls learn how to play poker so that they can join the guys in their games.
The Good: The girls make a logical progression from not being able to play, to being good enough to compete. The character interplay is excellent as each of them make plenty of jokes which flow from their established traits. There is a good effort made to add depth to Ross and Rachel’s personalities and so increase the tension between them. The poker games provide an excellent backdrop for both the humour and the story of Ross letting Rachel win to make her feel better.
The Bad: The humour is like background music here, never a belly laugh, just entertaining noise. As good as Ross and Rachel’s confrontation is, the episode doesn’t quite hit its punch well enough for a knock out. There are some nice moments here which hint at stories about gender, group competition and friendship but no point is really made. Ross and Rachel are a bit mean to each other at times as well. For some reason this show just doesn’t turn into a classic as it hints it might be. Tough criticism on a fine piece of TV.
Best Line:
(Ra) “Guys, guess what, guess what, guess what, guess what.”
(C) “Umm, ok the fifth dentist caved and now they’re all recommending Trident?”
Best Friend: Rachel
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